Get ready for another round of "is Pluto a planet?" http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8968352%5E2909...
Is Pluto really a planet?? ?? I'm just glad we have the ability to discover new worlds. If Jupiter has 61 "moons" (I think) what qualifies them as being a moon?? Is there a size factor or could some large observable snowball become a moon?? I would like to consider those objects of size that orbit the sun no matter how they achieved orbit as a planet and those bodies that orbit a planet to be moons. I'm just happy we have them ............. Aloha Rob
Sorry Jupiter has 63 moons http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~sheppard/satellites/jupsatdata.html This site for Jupiter by U Hawaii Institute for Astronomy
There actually is a size factor. The smaller 'sun orbiting' bodies are called planetoids, they range from large free asteroids (excess of I think 75 miles in diameter) all the way up to Chiron and Pluto. Many consider both Pluto and Chiron to be planetoids, and not true planets. Satellites, on the other hand, orbit either a planetoid or a planet. I believe there is another sub category of planetites, but I don't hear much about these bodies. They are actually small asteroids, or ice rocks that have free orbits around the sun. Cheers, James. -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+cyanics=xmission.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+cyanics=xmission.com@mailman.xmission.com ] On Behalf Of Rob Ratkowski Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 4:55 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] 10th "planet"? Sorry Jupiter has 63 moons http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~sheppard/satellites/jupsatdata.html This site for Jupiter by U Hawaii Institute for Astronomy _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
James Helsby wrote:
Many consider both Pluto and Chiron to be planetoids, and not true planets.
Had Pluto been discovered in the past few years I seriously doubt it would have been classified a planet. At smaller than 2,500 km it's just too small, IMHO, to be considered a major planet. Large asteroid, planetoid, minor planet? Yes. Planet? No. So I'm looking forward to the debate that will ensue should this new discovery turn out to be (even slightly) bigger than Pluto. Patrick
participants (3)
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James Helsby -
Patrick Wiggins -
Rob Ratkowski